Rebecca Campos’ Christmas tree is still up. The gifts are still under the tree, waiting to be opened. And no, she’s not the wife of a soldier, waiting for her spouse to come back from war abroad so that they can celebrate together. She’s a mother, whose daughter was forcibly taken by CPS for a “medical mystery”, that doctors have been unable to solve.
It all started about two years ago when Leiani McMichael, now 17, started complaining of stomach aches. She was diagnosed with hernias and cysts, and had her appendix surgically removed. But when she was still unable to keep food down, doctors put her on a feeding tube.
According to Campos, her daughter saw a lot of great doctors, and none of them were able to figure out what was wrong with her daughter. The feeding tube developed complications, and so a surgery was performed to rectify the problems, but Leiani slipped into a coma after surgery, and didn’t wake up.
When she did finally wake up, . She also began having seizures. They went from doctor to doctor, searching for answers. But when they got to U of M, a doctor told them that Leani had never needed surgery, feeding tubes or a wheelchair. It was all in her head, the doctor said. And it’s called Conversion Disorder.
But other doctors disagreed, and Campos was caught in the middle, trying to help her daughter while medical experts weighed in on all sides with conflicting opinions. And then, suddenly, CPS stepped in. The doctor at U of M had apparently contacted the state agency with the suggestion that abuse may have caused the Conversion Disorder. And based on that one doctor’s assumption, with no evidence to support it, a family was torn apart.
Accusing Campos of making her daughter intentionally sick, CPS personnel took Leiani away and placed her in the Oakland County’s Children’s Village, where she has now lived for two months. Campos is devastated. She misses her daughter and terribly, and is hoping that the trial scheduled for next month with prove her innocence. And reunite her with her daughter.
According to documentation filed by the prosecutor, A number of doctors have “performed unnecessary surgeries, diagnostic procedures, and other medical treatment based upon the parent’s false or exaggerated reports.” They also claim that Leiani is getting better while not in her mother’s care.
Is this an example of Munchausen by proxy, as the prosecutor claims? Or just another case of an overzealous agency prosecuting parents for not having all of the answers? Only time will tell, but we’re pretty sure we already know the answer to that question….